Burning Water
by Meginatree
Summary: Just a story i wrote quickly. Takes place during and after the battle with Ozai. Mainly Katara and someone. Who is it? I'm not telling. You'll just have to read and eventually find out. Warning Yuri. Possible higher rating.
1. Beginnings

Burning Water- Chapter One

Beginnings.

The war was finally ending. All those battles they had gone through had lead to this point. They had gotten here just in time their small group of misfits and soldiers. And them. The small group, a family if you wished, formed so many months ago. Katara could hardly believe it. If she had never gotten mad at her brother, then she would have never cracked the iceberg and they would have never found Aang. She then wouldn't have had these great adventures, or become a master Waterbender. She would have never even met the love over her young life. She knew she was young yes, but that didn't stopping from knowing what her heart wanted. In her mind Amber eyes danced, and flames flickered, a soft chuckle echoing.

She shook her head, her braid swinging wildly around her. Now wasn't the time for thoughts of love. She had to concentrate. They may not get this chance again; no they would never get this chance again. They had missed the eclipse yes, just by a few hours, but fortunately firebenders were still feeling the effects of it. It was now or never. Now was the only chance they had to achieve peace for the world. For all the nations, for all the lands people. For everyone and everything.

She took a deep breathe, steeling herself for the battle to come. She could not panic no matter what happened. She opened her blue eyes and surveyed the giant fortress before her. The metal walls gleamed in the fading sunlight. Getting in would be easy, thanks to Toph's skill in metal bending. It was the battle inside that would be difficult. Many people would be injured, some even lost completely. She just prayed it wouldn't be her or her loved ones. Following the signal from Aang, Toph ripped a huge gash in one of the fortresses walls. Pushing her panic and fear aside she stepped through the unsightly gash prepared for the battle.


	2. Encounters

Burning Water- Chapter Two

Encounters.

They fortress was quiet. Their footsteps echoed off the marble floor tiles. Katara felt her heart beating so loudly, so loud she was surprised that no one else had heard it. Her breaths were loud, as she swirled a small orb of water around her ready to attack or defend. But was she really ready, she questioned in her mind. Was she ready for the danger, the heartbreak, and the pain that would come with the subsequent battle? She breathed out, a small sigh, her eyes filled with sorrow. She wasn't ready she knew that, but she had to fight now.

Soldiers approached, their weapons ready. The non-benders in their little troop filled off and faced them. These were ordinary foot soldiers, non-benders. They could not afford to waste benders upon these. They soldiers attacked their swords and spears ringing against the other soldiers weapons. Aang signalled that they needed to move on. They needed to go further; they could not stay here, there were harder battles to face. Her face contorted with fear for the men, Katara moved on keeping her thoughts focused.

They snuck slightly through empty passages, all of them ready for an attack at any moment. Then suddenly one came. A flame shot past the group, lighting the hall, just missing a few of the slower people. Turning they saw another gathering of soldiers, theses ones firebenders by the look of their uniforms. The group of their own benders came and faced off against them, Toph among them. Aang gave a sharp strangled cry, to which she responded with a look off determination that clearly said, go twinkle toes, fight your battle. I have to stay and fight mine. With a small nod Aang turned and ran up the stairs, now only followed with Katara, Zuko, Sokka and Suki. He knew Toph could look after herself, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

The small group once again took off down the halls, their feet pounding the floor as they began to run. They had just entered another cavernous chamber when, they heard a giggle. They all stopped their eyes searching for the giggles source. Its owner then fell somersaulted from the room's roof, before landing at Sokka's feet. He whirled back as the girl leaned in close before giving another giggle and chirping,

"Hi Cutie!"

Suki's eyes narrowed at the nickname the other girl gave to HER boyfriend. She pushed herself into the narrow space between the two people, before shoving the other girl back.

"You must be Suki" the pink acrobat said a slight damper on her usually cheerfulness. She shot a small glare towards the tall red head, before bounding back to her feat. She faced off against the Kyoshi warrior completely ignoring the other three people in the room. Sokka moved to stand next to his girlfriend, ready to protect her.

Suddenly out of no-where a knife flew out almost striking Sokka in the chest. He was saved only by Suki's metal fans, which the knife bounced harmlessly off. His eyes met his sister's and he gave a slight nod, knowing she would understand. And she did. She grabbed Aang by the shoulder and moved to flee up another corridor. He understood and together along with Zuko they ran leaving a battle consisting of knives and acrobatics to form.

Her legs began to grow weary with the inconsistent pace but Katara pushed on. This was their only chance to win freedom for the people. Her eyes were drawn to the left by a small blue flickering flame. She gasped knowing its owner and screamed out to Aang and Zuko,

"DUCK!" before falling to the floor herself. The once blue flame shot overhead harmlessly before hitting a wall, the flames returning to a red orange colour. She pushed herself up and glanced at the young Airbender. Go her eyes whispered and the young monk hesitantly did what she ordered. With Zuko by his side he ran off, unable to stop himself from casting one last glance to his long time friend. This was her battle.

Katara got onto her feet, her eyes scanning the room, a small ball of water shifting between her hands in preparation for an attack. She heard a low chuckle as a figure steps out from the shadows. Blues eyes shot up to meet Golden ones. The figure then spoke, their voice low, "Hello Katara."


	3. Flames

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Avatar. It belongs to two creative geniuses, by the names of Mike and Bryan.

Burning Water- Chapter Three

Flames.

Katara glared sharply at her enemy. This would be a hard battle to face. Not only was her opponent very skilled in her art, but she, well she had a very strong connection to Katara. One that they had both tried to break with little success. But she couldn't think like that. This person was the enemy, they had to be defeated.

The silhouette step further out of the shadows slowly revealing themselves. Red cloth covered the person, curving around small delicate hips. Black hair framed her face, pulled back in the traditional topknot. And those amber eyes, sparkled menacingly in a sea of milky white skin. This was the one person that could stop Katara cold.

The person having been fully revealed gave another small laugh, this one sounding equally as menacing as the others. The light in her tawny eyes glittered and a small indigo flame danced on one finger. They two girls circled each other, each ready with their own element.

"Hello Katara." The figure spoke her voice soft and silky.

"Azula" the water bender replied, "I've see you've run back to daddy."

Azula's eyes narrowed at this comment but other wise she didn't react "My father merely requested that I come home to squash some annoying little pests." Suddenly a flame shot out of her index fingertip, arching over to Katara, who dodged it neatly, not bothering to use any water. There was little of it around, so she had to be careful.

She then sent out a whip of water in retaliation, blocking all the bittersweet memories from her mind. Azula had a choice. And she choose to leave her and stay with her tyrant of a father. It had hurt Katara deeply and it still ached to think about it.

Katara was shocked out of her thought when she was pushed up against one of the grand pillars that supported the ceilings. Wide sapphire eyes shot up to meet almond amber ones. Then small red lips met with light pink ones.

Katara had no idea how long the stood their, Azula's hold on her eventually relaxing to sweep her into a passionate embrace. It couldn't have been long, but it felt as if many days had come to pass. They stood there pressed against each other as if they were trying to become one, before eventually ending their fervent embrace. They gazed into each other's eyes, as if they were looking at into the others souls, both forgetting that they were enemies, which were supposed to fight each other, not become lovers.

Tears began to cloud Katara's light eyes, before leaking out of the corners and forming their rivers of anguish upon her face. She sobbed into Azula's shoulder; her tears stain the red cloth. The raven haired girl brought her lover closer, ignoring the cries of battle her mind only focused on the shorter girl, hating the fact that she had caused this torment.

After awhile Katara's sobs began to subside and she looked at the fire princess, her face still shiny with tears. Her voice hoarse she spoke to the younger girl, tears threatening to appear again.

"Azula... I-i can't do this anymore. I c-can't fight you… I-it hurts too much." Katara choked back a sob before continuing, "W-why do we have to f-fight. W-why can't you just c-come to our side? We… we only want peace. D-don't you w-want that too Azula. N-no more fighting… then- then maybe we can be together." She looked hopefully at the girl whose arms encircled her.

Azula's small smile of joy began to disappear as she released her hold on Katara. She turned and took a few steps away; knowing that behind her Katara's hopefulness would be fading. She bit back tears and replied to the older girl "You know I can't do what you wish Katara. You have your duty and I have mine." And with that Azula released a small wave of fire separating her from Katara, and Katara from the door to Aang. She took one last look at her brunette lover before running away, after the avatar, tears threatening to overpower her.

AN: And there you have it. Chapter Troi. Enjoy AND REVIEW. Please. Reviews make baby jesus smile. God I've got to stop watching Simpsons. I'm so sad.


	4. Decisions

Disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own Avatar not me. _runs off sobbing_

Burning Water- Chapter Four

Decisions.

Katara stared, heartbroken, into the flames that flickered before her. She had poured her heart out to Azula, begged her to stop fighting, only to be rejected. A tear trickled out of the corner of one of her sky-like eyes, and Katara hastily pushed it away. She had to go after her, if only to stop her from hurting Aang or her brother. Using a small amount of water, Katara cut a small path through the blaze, which she weaved through swiftly.

She got to the other side, batting away small flames that head made the way onto her cotton dress. She hurried off in the direction she had seen Azula go, her eyes darting around to spy some sort of movement, her ears perked for any sound.

She came to the end of the wide corridor only to find herself in a dilemma. The corridor split off into two separate passages, each offering no clues to the whereabouts of her lover and friends. Taking a random guess Katara decide on the left passageway and ran down it, hoping in her heart it was the right one and that she wasn't too late.

AN: Mwahahaha another chapter with out dialogue. Mwahahaha _cough splutter choke_. Clears throat. Umm yeah sorry 'bout that. Slight insanity issues. As I was saying no dialogue. Why? Cause I find extremely difficult to write. I specialise in descriptions. And you guys are lucky. I'm bored so I decided to post two chapters, therefore four and five are being delivered to your monitors. So enjoy the writings from yours truly, me.


	5. Battle

Burning Water- Chapter Five

Battle.

Katara ran, her heart pounding loudly in her chest, down the corridor she had chosen. She hoped she wasn't too late, in fact she begged the spirits to get her there in time, that this was the right path, that hope wasn't lost. She heard the screams and cries of a battle and pushed her legs to go faster, this had to be them.

She reached a pair of gigantic doors, and pushed them open. Her calmed slight when she saw that she had finally found them, before it flared up again. They weren't in good shape. Aang was fighting Ozai, who looked like and older and evil version of Zuko. Said prince was fighting his sister, their flames swirling around them in an overly complicated ballet.

She quickly figured out who need the most help and ran to Aang's side. It was extremely important that they took down Ozai. Zuko would be able to take Azula for a while longer so they had that handled. Focusing on the task ahead, she bended some water out of her pouch and advanced.

Dodging a blast of flame aimed at her by her brother, Azula found herself distracted by the appearance of Katara. Obviously the flames had not been strong or high enough. She ducked a tongue of flame before shooting brilliant blue ones back at Zuko. She had to get rid of him so she could stop Katara from getting hurt or hurting someone. She somersaulted in mid-air, a trick she had learnt from Ty Lee, flames sparking from the soles of her boots. The battle raged on.

Katara dodged and gathered the fallen water, her brow furrowing in concentration. This battle was harder then she could have ever imagined, and was testing all off her skills. She whirled around, her water cutting through the blaze of flames, her appearance blurred. She and Aang worked together, like parts of a well oiled machine their attacks slicing the air around Ozai.

Katara fell to her knees in avoidance of Ozai's flames. She shook her head and drew in a breath, trying to steady herself. She was quickly growing tired. She pushed herself up, gathering her water to build a shield to mask her vulnerability. But it was too late. Ozai had seen her fall, and had shot a large blast of fire at her. It shattered her shield and he threw another attack at her. But this one was much more deadly. Its was a lethal bolt of lightning.


	6. Dying

Burning Water- Chapter Six

Dying.

Katara stood there, rooted to the floor in her terror, and watched the crackling bolt of lightning shot come closer and closer. She shot a fleeting look to her best friend, her eyes filled with panic and remorse. She threw her arms up, to shield her face from the deadly blast knowing it would do very little to help her. But she was too panicked to conjure up an ice shield. She was going to die. Katara squeezed her eyes shut tightly waiting for the inevitable blow.

But it never came. Instead of pain and electricity, she merely felt the air swoop past her, someone's arms wrapped around her hips tightly. She fell too the floor with a sickening crunch, not quite sure what was happening. She wasn't was she? Was this death?

She opened her eyes, her head still acing from landing on the hard stone floor. Sitting up the person who had saved her slipped off of her and fell to the floor. Curious to see had risked their life for her she glanced over. As soon as she did that her blue eyes widened, and she choked back a cry of shock.

Next to her lay her love, Azula. Her hair had been knocked loss in the fall, and know fanned out on the floor. Her eyes were glazed over, and she struggled to breathe. Katara couldn't see her back, but she was willing to bet her mother's necklace that it was in bad shape, due to the pool of crimson blood that began to grow beneath her. She had taken the blow and now she was dying.

Tears crept into the corners of Katara's eyes as she watched Azula's chest faltering to rise. Then as Katara watched, Azula expelled a breath, and struggled to take one in. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip to stop herself from releasing a howl of despair. It was all her fault.

Tears snaked their way down her cheeks, before falling onto Azula's robes. Her head felt heavy, as she struggled to raise it. Ozai had continued his battle with Aang, but it now included Zuko. He never glanced at Azula's still form, and showed no sign of remorse on his face.

Katara felt the anger inside her bubble. This was his daughter, his prodigy, his heir. And yet he showed no grief. He was the one who had hit his own daughter, even if it was by mistake, but bit a smidge of regret showed on face. Then Katara realised. It wasn't her fault that her love had gone beyond her reach. It was his. She rose unsteadily, her anger taking control and let out a scream of anger.

The battle in the throne room ceased as the occupants all turned to look at her. She glared at Ozai, her rage sharpening the soft curves of her face. She drew up all the water in the room, pulling it from the air, and outside quarters and charged at Ozai. He smirked in response. What was a little girl going to do to him? He soon found out.

Katara kept the water soft and malleable until she reached Ozai. Then it turned razor sharp as she slashed at the murderer's throat. He managed to doge, but her anger drove her on. She had lost her love, her soulmate, and now nothing was going to stop her. Her eyes gleamed wickedly as she ducked in and out, neatly avoiding Ozai's flames, before retaliating with her icy blades. She was dying and it was his fault.


	7. Choice

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. Now I'm just going to go cry.

Burning Water- Chapter Seven

Choice.

Azula felt herself slowly return to conciseness. Her head throbbed and she raised a tentative hand up towards it. On her forehead just above her left temple was a large lump. She touched it gently and a hiss of pain escaped from her lips. She pushed herself up, her back protesting with every movement. Her fingers felt for the source of the pain and found a sticky substance covering her back.

She bought her hand back and looked at it closely at it. She found them covered in sticky crimson blood. Her blood, Azula realised. She wiped it away, it become invisible on the red cloth. She looked around; searching for the one she had saved. Where was she?

A blast of fire caught her attention and she turned her head slowly the small movement hurting her aching head. There she was, her love, her world, her everything. And there was her monster of a sire. He dodged Katara's blows of water, strike back at her with his own blasts of red.

Soldiers began to troop in, obviously attracted by commotion. The appearance of the men, distracted the Avatar and her brother, and Azula watched the two work in sync, blasting some out the way, or just holding them back. Their actions prevented them from aiding their lord.

Azula rose, unsteady from the blood lost. Her amber eyes focused on her struggling soulmate. She took a few shake steps towards her, willing her legs to grow stronger. She was going to help her with all that she had. She was going to make the right choice. The choice she should have made months ago.

AN: Argh another chapter that gave me trouble. And look readers a trend. No dialogue, gasp of shock and horror Yeah well I just can't write it. So there. Enjoy and review.

PS; And for readers of my other stories, my oneshots. That's all they are people. Don't go adding them to story alert cause hey I'm not going to add or change them. There oneshots. Nothing more, nothing less


	8. Turning

Disclaimer: Mike & Bryan are the owners of Avatar, not me.

Burning Water- Chapter Eight

Turning.

Katara slipped in the puddle of water falling to her knees. Her breathing was ragged and she looked up just in time to see the whip of red aimed at her. She ducked rolling to the side, retaliating with her own whip of blue. She pushed herself up, her joints aching and stood in a stance.

The battle continued and Katara knew there would be very little chance of her winning it. She began to focus harder, making her attacks stronger and deadly but was having little success. Her anger made her blind, and caused her attacks to weaken due to a lack of focus.

Katara screamed in fury as once again she was forced to duck a blow. The water she held fell into puddles and she looked up just in time to see the wave of fire. Her blue eyes took on a hard glow and Katara ran at the Fire Lord, foregoing her usually watery weapons.

Ozai smirked as he knocked the young master's fists away with ease. Grabbing her wrists he smirked that evil smile of his down at her as she struggled to free herself. Growing tired of Katara's antics he chuckled lowly and threw her across the tiled floor.

Katara hit the cold tiles and lay there, her body still, her eyes watching the flames that Ozai formed in one fist. Weariness overtook her and she sighed resignedly, staring into the red destruction, uncaring to what was about to happen.

_I'll see you soon my love, my __Azula._

Suddenly the red flame that was flying towards her was divided by the blinding white flare that came from behind her. She twisted and gaped at the sight that stood before her.

Her fiery goddess, her love, the keeper of her heart. Her Azula. Her tunic was tattered at the back, red blood seeping into the red fabric. Her face was a mask of determination, but Katara could see a spark of surprise at her usually blue flames being white.

The bolt of white energy shot to Ozai, striking the cruel fire lord on the left side of his face. A red welt formed there, a striking resemblance to the scar he had given his son. He glared at his daughter before returning the blast, his red flames seeming weak compared to Azula's white ones.

Azula dodged the flames, a sneer of resentment forming on her face. She sprung into action a whirlwind of white as she punched out with flames, flames the fire lord barely dodged. The tables had turned. The Fire Lord would fall.

AN: I'm soooo sorry everyone. This chapter gave me so many problems, mainly due to the Avatar part of my brain basically shutting down.But its here know, so please stop sharpening your weapons.


	9. Sorry An Authoress' Note

To the readers of Burning Water.

I am currently going through a huge re-write of all my stories. I've looked over 'Burning Water' and frankly I think I can do better. So while I'm leaving the story up all the chapters will be re-written, combined or all together scrapped. Sorry if you were all getting impatient for another chapter. If you're still anxious for Kazula check out my page for a few one-shots.

If anyone has any ideas for the story however, just send me a private message and I'll take a looksei. I am currently working on the pairs. So far I've got Kazula (duh the story kinda focuses on this pairing) Tanng, Sukka, maybe Mai Lee. Problem is who too pair Zuko up with? Any suggestions? I'll take cannon characters or your OC's. Just no Mary Sues.

Thank you for reading, and once again Sorry.


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